I make a lot of art journal mistakes.  Usually, I leave them for a time and return to try to rework them.  In this case, I started with an Asian woman eating with chopsticks.  The original theme was “You Are What You Eat” and she replied, “But I hardly eat ANYTHING”.  Then you see a fluttering turquoise butterfly entering her mouth.  I loved her costume and I was frustrated that layer upon layer, I couldn’t get the words or the art right at all.

On attempt #2, I changed the language a bit to “The Taste of Freedom”.  I reoriented a few items, added some shading, colored in her teeth and eyes to make it a bit garish.  Still, I had “Yuck”.

On attempt #3, several months later, I’m reworking the detail background in the lower left and right hand corners and I am still unhappy.  Some people like to keep art journaling mistakes because it reminds them of the time and place they were.  Others like to keep the works to see how far they’ve progressed.  Me?  Well, I don’t like to look at my failures because it makes me feel bad.  Instead, I like to repurpose my old and my uglies for revamped sale.  Here’s how I do it and you can, too:

1.  Get yourself some frames.  I have 3 x 5′s and 4 x 6′s because I like to work small.  I feel if I can make two or three sales from one art journaling page, that is return on investment!

2.  Prepare your mats.  In my case, what appeared to be separate mats within the frame were actually cheaply PRINTED mats on a piece of paper.  I had to cut the mat using my Xacto knife and Alvin self-healing mat. Also, let me put a word out about glass vs. plexiglass.  I am now a converted proponent of plexiglass – it’s safer and it looks the same.  It’s also more economical and better for the environment.  Buy it where you can.

3.  Mark off on the original piece where you want to create your new works.  I told you I make a lot of mistakes.  Where I was too lazy to simply measure it out using a ruler, I took the glass frame and used it as a stencil.  This means I got fingerprints all over the glass.  Yuck, again.  AND THEN, because I was too lazy (well, its not too lazy really, its more just trying to work fast) to reach up to my storage to get a non-running pen (you need dark ink so you can see where you have to cut), I instead reached for a green art marker.  Well, guess what?  Your marker WILL run against the glass edge as you trace it, leaving another mess.  When will I learn?  I also try to cut about equal numbers of works on the vertical and horizontal planes.  People’s living spaces are getting smaller, and you never know what wall space they may be working with.  Oh, I should add that all my frames have self-hanging mechanisms.  Another truism, people don’t have enough flat surface space, so give them something for often unused walls.  And try to buy frames without saw-toothed hanging systems (it saves the wall).

4.  Now you’re ready to cut carefully.  Because my frames are a bit inexpensive, I like to cut on the OUTER edge of my tracing marks because I believe the work fits more snug inside the frame.  I also like to leave a little room for error and correction, because (all repeat now) I make a lot of mistakes.

5.  For some reason (probably another mistake in the making – ha), I was thinking at the time that I wanted to sell these new little mini works with words of encouragement and inspiration.  Now that I revisit it, I think this butterfly would have been fine on her own because there is so much happening in the background.  So I went digging through magazines to find these encouraging words.  Oh, word to the wise, I like the torn feel of the paper’s edge, so I tear my words to shape.  You may want to cut yours or place them more strategically.  While I was doing this, I thought I was truly losing my eyesight.  I just couldn’t focus on the word.  Then I finally realized that the “h” and the “y” are inversions – which made me like it even more!

6.  Time to put it all together. Don’t forget the sign the back of your newly created piece.  Here’s the work completed, the back of the frame, and the work in the frame.

7.  Okay.  Not so bad.  Now, let’s try another using the head portion of my original piece.  In both cases, you’ll note I ended up not using the mat for interior framing.  And here’s what I learned.  When you’re cutting your original work, you’ll end up with some fantastic scrap pieces to use in your future art journaling pages.  And in some cases, your scraps will separate from their original collage elements (see image 3) leaving new white space for new writing!  I save all these scraps for art journaling time-saving tricks!

8.  One more example showing you how I ended up doing a little more “repair” work through the use of art stamping before I was satisfied with the finished product on yet a new page of my journaling book.  Of course, it goes without saying, you must take care to position your added words so they fit in the window of the mat. You probably don’t make the mistakes that I do, so you probably don’t need to be TOLD and YOU probably won’t have to REDO the whole thing because you’re rushing and you didn’t take it step by step.  Ha.  Have fun and enjoy!  Now you’re ready for online or in-store or exhibition sales.  Be sure to mark the back of your frame with your pricing and contact information (usually I attach a business card).  I love these little old and uglies because I make them and sell them as brand new inexpensive cash-n-carry artworks. Everyone has at least one place in their lives that could use a bit more art, no?